Strawberry fields ... not forever

Josh McIntosh, a fourth-generation Garden Grove resident leans against a fence surrounding the property that contained the last strawberry field in Garden Grove. The field, located at the northeast corner of Hazard Avenue and North Euclid Street, was bulldozed to make way for a new development.LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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GARDEN GROVE – They are sweet and delicious and for many of the old-timers in this city, the stuff of memories.

They are strawberries. They're the city's emblem. And now they're gone.

The last strawberry field in Garden Grove – home to an annual Strawberry Festival that boasts the largest strawberry shortcake in the world – was recently cleared.

It went the way of much of the agricultural land that once made up Orange County, with its former vast fields of walnuts, lima beans, sugar beets and, of course, oranges. The strawberry field at Hazard Avenue and Euclid Street will be turned into 56 new homes.

"It's just a sad thing to happen. It's the city's symbol," said community activist Josh McIntosh.

"It's not necessarily anyone's fault. But the city should bring one back, even if just a small strawberry garden," said McIntosh, who asked the City Council earlier this month to create a community spot for growing strawberries.

The berries are represented on the archway marking the entrance to Garden Grove's Main Street. And a strawberry helps mark the hour on the clock tower at the Village Green, where the charitable festival welcomes some 250,000 visitors annually.

Jim Guptill, 87, grew up on Lampson Avenue, across the street from a strawberry field wedged between orange trees. He says he can't remember what he did as a kid, "but if we did it today, we'd get in trouble." But one memory sticks. "I used to sneak out in the hill and eat them."

For Sherry Weeks, it was the anticipation of "what would happen to those strawberries" purchased regularly at a former stand on Chapman Avenue and Euclid Street.

"I remember daddy making cake," Weeks said. "He wouldn't make shortcake. He would make the Bisquick recipe. And then I remember the heavy whipping cream ... because we didn't have Cool Whip."

"Wonderful memories," said Weeks, president of the Garden Grove Historical Society.

Before the strawberries, there were other crops. German settlers in Anaheim grew grapes in the 1870s. The grapes developed a blight and many growers switched to oranges, said local historian and author Phil Brigandi.

By the beginning of the 1900s, apricots, walnuts and oranges were grown throughout Orange County. So were many other crops. Fountain Valley became known for its lima beans. Garden Grove was known for its chili peppers.

Sugar beet farming was so strong that in 1914, a front-page headline in the Huntington Beach News proclaimed Orange County "the sugar bowl of the U.S.," with more sugar beets grown here than any other county.

And then there were the oranges the county is named after – acres and acres of them.

Josh McIntosh, a fourth-generation Garden Grove resident leans against a fence surrounding the property that contained the last strawberry field in Garden Grove. The field, located at the northeast corner of Hazard Avenue and North Euclid Street, was bulldozed to make way for a new development. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Undated historic photo of workers harvesting strawberry's in a Garden Grove strawberry field. The first Garden Grove Strawberry Festival was held in 1958 and celebrated the areas then prolific strawberry fields.
Workers are shown in an Orange County strawberry field, circa 1930. All sorts of produce have grown in Orange County – from grapes to walnuts and apricots to avocados and lima beans.“They tried everything here, stuff you wouldn't believe. Costa was known for apples at one point, but that didn't last,” said local historian and author Phil Brigandi. “They heard Southern California, thought it was semitropical, so they came and planted bananas and guavas, and you can imagine how well those did in the first Santa Ana winds.” PHOTO COURTESY ORANGE COUNTY ARCHIVES
Large agricultural fields are visible in this historic photo looking northeast at Garden Grove Boulevard just east of Knott Avenue, in Garden Grove, circa 1958. There was a time where all sorts of produce was grown in Orange County – from grapes to walnuts and apricots to avocados and lima beans. Will it soon all disappear? “We're a long ways from seeing it completely gone,” said local historian and author Phil Brigandi. “There are too many people who it means something to.” PHOTO COURTESY ORANGE COUNTY ARCHIVES
Stan Beitler, 88, moved to Garden Grove when he was 10 and the community's population hovered around 3,000 residents. His wife, Margaret, 86, grew up in Garden Grove, surrounded by her family's orange grove. “At the time, you don't realize it, but you look back and it was really ideal. We made our own fun. We didn't have a lot of toys. We had our dolls and all. But so many of us lived on citrus ranches, our playhouses would be under an orange tree.” She recalls riding her bike around town, because there was little traffic. And she loved cracking the walnuts her father grew. She sold the meat at walnut houses for Christmas money. The Beitlers patronized Garden Grove's last strawberry stand frequently. “It makes us sad, in a way, that it's gone,” she said. Her husband quickly chimes in: “It's still our hometown. We love Garden Grove.” PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Josh McIntosh, a fourth-generation Garden Grove resident recovered a discarded strawberry sign from the last strawberry field in Garden Grove, in background, before the field was bulldozed to make way for a new development. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A fence encloses the property on the northeast corner of Hazard Avenue and North Euclid Street in Garden Grove that was the last strawberry field in the city. The property will be used for a new development. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kids from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove lead the 54th annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival parade in May. FILE: STUART PALLEY, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A spinning Strawberry Patch ride entices visitors at the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival. It is one of the largest festivals on the West Coast. But fields of the bright red berries are but a memory. The last one was recently cleared. In its place will be new homes. That's the way it's been in much of Orange County, where new developments have paved over agricultural land since the 1950s. Even orange groves – the county's namesake – have been reduced from nearly 40,000 acres in 1960 to 72 acres last year. FILE: CINDY YAMANAKA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Nathan Koh chows down on strawberries during the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival in 2011. FILE: THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Miss Garden Grove 2012 Bree Morse on her own Strawberry-themed float at the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival parade. FILE: STUART PALLEY, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Workers are shown in an Orange County strawberry field, circa 1930. PHOTO COURTESY ORANGE COUNTY ARCHIVES
A worker picks strawberries in an Orange County field in this historic photo from the 1950s. PHOTO COURTESY ORANGE COUNTY ARCHIVES
Stan and Margaret Beitler remember when Garden Grove was mostly agriculture fields. Stan, 88, has lived in the city since he was 10, and Margaret, 86, was born in Garden Grove. PHOTO BY PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The strawberry clock tower at Village Green in Garden Grove where the annual Strawberry Festival is held each year. The springtime festival features live entertainment, carnival rides, food, celebrities and contests. Money raised goes to various nonprofits. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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